


Mending Wall

by Barb Cummings (Rahirah)



Series: The Barbverse [10]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-02
Updated: 2012-06-02
Packaged: 2017-11-06 16:06:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/420756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rahirah/pseuds/Barb%20Cummings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Willow's a vampire.  Xander deals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mending Wall

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in the same universe as _A Raising In the Sun_ et al., and contains spoilers for previous works in the series.

When in doubt, drywall.

Xander hefted the dusty rectangle of sheetrock up against the wooden framework of the dividing wall, ignoring the throbbing ache in his knees and shins as he squared it away. Words to live by. When the going gets tough, the tough lay tile. Something like that. Buffy's basement was taking shape. The accumulated junk of years had been winnowed down to a tidy pile of boxes tucked onto the new shelves beside the washing machine, and the wall he was putting up now would isolate the washer and dryer from the rest of the area. Grungy linoleum and splintery old stairs gave way to Saltillo tile and a new wrought-iron banister.

Order out of chaos, courtesy Xander Harris, one-man crusader against entropy.

"Hey."

Willow's pale face peered down at him from the landing. He hadn't heard her footsteps on the stairs. Maybe he wouldn't have noticed them Before (Before had capital letters now) but he wouldn't have noticed not noticing. "Hey, Wills." Acknowledgy, yet non-committal. That was good. Go, Team Harris.

She looked around. "Wow. It's really starting to look good." Her fingers made small fidgety movements with the hem of her blouse. "Could you use a hand? With you recovering from major injury and me with the super-strength now – I mean, not that I think you can't handle it, because there you are, all with the handling and the manliness, but I thought maybe…" She trailed off mid-babble, biting her lip in distress.

The thing that hurt most was how different she wasn't. Same big green eyes, same waterfall-straight red hair, and it wasn't like freckle-phobic Willow had ever been a sun worshipper. Plus, soul. Willow Rosenberg, _souled_ vampire, which made all the difference. It gave her the right to be Same Old Willow. Of course, it was Same Old Willow who'd allied with the First Evil and tried to kill Buffy and Spike and destroy the world. Same Old Willow who'd brought the mountain of debris down to break his legs in sixty-seven jillion places. Same Old Willow who'd tricked Spike into…

"Yeah, sure," he said. Because, after all, it was _Willow._

She pattered down the stairs like a kid invited to lick the bowl, swinging the next piece of sheetrock off the flat with a sort of effortless awkwardness. "Where do you want it?" she asked, breathless. 

He'd never thought about the fact that a vampire would have to learn to inhale all over again just to talk normally. He'd never thought about a lot of things, and he didn't want to think about them now, but, well. "Right here," he replied. "Get it flush up against this one."

And he had to admit it was a lot easier with Willow to hold the sheetrock up while he hammered, one long sharp shiny nail after another disappearing into the plaster, _bam, bam, bam,_ little clouds of dust rising with every blow of the hammer, just like a stake into – 

Willow's head whipped around at his strangled cough-sob-whatever, concern-face on stun. "'m okay," he gasped. "Just swallowed a plaster chip or something." He let the hammer drop, shifting his weight from side to side – nope, both sides hurt just as much. Xander leaned heavily against the half-finished wall. Walking casts, his ass. "Is there anything you want me to – " God, he sounded like an idiot. _How can I accomodate your freakish living requirements, creature of the night?_ Oh, yeah, that would go over well. "Since you and Tara are going to be the ones rooming down here, I mean. Anything that would make it… easier."

The corner of Willow's mouth twitched, rueful. "Heavy curtains? No, seriously, we're only going to be here until we graduate, and then Buffy and Spike will probably want to make it over into a training room or something, so…"

"You're sure?" He wanted there to be something. Marble counter tops, hand-made candelabra, custom coffin rests, something he could do that would connect the two of them again. 

Decisive nod. "Sure. But I could… I could still come down and help you. Since it's going to be half my bedroom, that's only fair, isn't it?"

"Guess so. If you're not too busy making straight A's at Vampire U." He hated himself a little for the tinge of jealousy in his tone.

"Xander, I – " Her hand touched his, tentatively at first, then with greater confidence when he didn't flinch away. "I need someone to hold on to," she whispered. "Someone real and solid and normal, because I _need_ normal. Buffy wants it, but I _need_ it, or I go… " she shivered, as though the chill of her fingers came from somewhere deeper. "Someplace so far away from here I thought I could never get back. I got lost. So lost. Someday maybe I'll need to go there again, but I need to be able to get back. I need an anchor that's here. Spike's my sire, and Buffy's been great, but they… Spike lives there all the time, and Buffy can hop the line any time she likes and doesn't get why I can't. And Tara's so afraid of me – she tries not to be, but I can smell it, and it's killing me, and – "

"Willow," he said fervently, "I love you. But if I stand up to take your hand I will fall flat on my face."

"Oh. Sorry." Her nose scrunched in consideration. "No you wouldn't, because I'd catch you with my superior vampire reflexes. I think. Let's not test it."

"Taken as tested." Xander jerked a thumb at the section of sheetrock half-covering the future door to the laundry room. "So you wanna use that superior vampire eyesight to measure off where I need to cut that?"

She grinned. "Oooh, rulers and T-squares. It's almost like geometry class." 

"Trust you to ruin the fun of manual labor," grumbled Xander. Same Old Willow. 

Anchors aweigh.

 

**End**


End file.
